Women’s Basketball Defeats Colgate, 70-65

Emily Parker

Jan 08, 2014

HAMILTON, N.Y. – Holy Cross junior forward Emily Parker (Johnson, Iowa) notched her second double-double of the season with a career-best 23 points and 12 rebounds to help lead the Crusaders to a 70-65 victory over Colgate in Patriot League women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at Cotterell Court. With the win, the Crusaders improve to 11-3 overall and move to 3-0 in the conference, while the Raiders fall to 4-10 on the season and 0-3 in the league.

In addition to Parker for Holy Cross, sophomore forward Raquel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Senior guard Brisje Malone (Springfield, Mass.) tallied 12 points and five assists, while sophomore guard Lisa Mifsud (Erie, Pa.) scored 10 points. Colgate was led by Mariah Jones, who had a game-best 24 points.

The two teams went back-and-forth to begin the contest, as there were four lead changes over the first 7:14, but the Crusaders held the slim 9-8 edge. Scott scored the next five points for Holy Cross to help them gain the 14-8 lead (9:30), but the Raiders went on a 7-0 rally to grab the 15-14 advantage with 8:17 on the clock. The lead exchanged hands twice and was tied four times over the next 5:24, as the score was knotted at 23-23 (3:41) after Crusader senior guard Kelly Hamner (Manassas, Va.) hit a pair of free throws. Colgate went ahead 26-23 with 2:13 left in the half, but an old-fashioned three-pointer by Parker tied the game at the eventual halftime score of 26-26.

Holy Cross came out of the locker room on fire and went on a 14-0 rally to gain the 40-26 lead with 16:41 on the clock. Mifsud scored five points during the run, while Scott and Parker had four apiece. The Crusaders pushed their lead to the largest of the game (46-29) at the 14:26 mark of the second half, but the Raiders responded with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 49-41 (10:20). Holy Cross increased its lead to nine points (59-50), but Colgate again countered with a 9-1 surge to make it a one-point game (60-59) with 4:05 on the clock. From 13:18 to 4:05, the Raiders outscored the Crusaders 30-14

The two squads traded buckets over the next two minutes, but Holy Cross did not relinquish the lead as it held the 66-65 edge with 2:19 left in the half. The Crusaders closed the game with four free-throws over the final two minutes and would go on to claim the tough-fought, 70-65, victory.

Holy Cross connected on 25 of its 55 shots from the field (45.5 percent), while Colgate was limited to 29.4 percent shooting from the floor (20 of 68). The Crusaders went 23.1 percent from behind the arc (3 of 13), while the Raiders hit 10 of their 26 attempts from downtown (38.5 percent). Holy Cross shot 60.7 percent from the free throw line (17 of 28), while Colgate went 15 of 22 from the charity stripe (68.2 percent). The Crusaders held advantages in points in the paint (36-14), rebounding (48-40), assists (16-14) and second chance points (12-7).

Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 11, when it will entertain Bucknell at the Hart Center for a 2:00 p.m. contest. Immediately following the game versus the Bison, the Crusaders will host their annual "Kids Clinic" for any child in attendance. Children wearing their game jerseys will receive free admission into the Bucknell game.

College of the Holy CrossDepartment of Athletics 1 College Street Worcester, MA 01610